Sometimes, things happen
by Nightcrawler666
Summary: A new girl joins the Turks, and everything seems to go wrong for Reno. Implied Yuffentine, RudexElena, Zerith, CloTi.Mostly RenoxOC fanfiction. ;D
1. Coffee causes Problems

**- A Final Fantasy VII Reno Fanfiction - by Nightcrawler666 -**

_To start with, I brought Aerith and Zack back to life, because I think they're just so cute together. This story is about 3 years after AC is set. Oh, and I made a few couples:  
><em>_ElanaxRude - YuffiexVincent - RenoxOC  
><em>_Read to find out!_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter 1 - Coffee causes problems<strong>_

Reno didn't _want_ to hear it, he didn't _need_ to hear it, and he certainly didn't _like_ to hear it, but that didn't change the fact that he was in-fact hearing it. He would of stayed in bed if he knew this was the 'Special news' Tseng was talking about. The thing he needed the least at the moment was news.

"So, if you'll all be nice to her tomorrow, I'd appreciate it." Tseng finished. For a whole half-hour Reno had successfully tuned out of absolutely everything his boss had said. He was proud of himself. In almost no time at all he'd be sleeping with his eyes open.

Rude woke Reno from is ignorant trance with a nudge on the shoulder.  
>"Meeting's over, buddy." He said, walking towards the door and waiting their for his partner. Just like he always did.<br>"I'm sleeping, yo." Reno replied, unable to even try to stop that little word from slipping out at the end. He felt a hand either side of his head, but discarded it as just his sleepy imagination.

It was then that Elena took the opportunity to bring her palms crashing in on Reno's sleepy head, like symbols. It was almost as effective as using symbols as well, because he immediately jumped up out of the chair he was sat in.  
>"What, was <em>that<em> for?" He asked, going to sit back down but being pulled up by Elena.

"Come on, wake up."  
>"I never <em>actually<em> got to sleep." Reno complained, but went along with it anyway, letting himself get dragged to the door and left there."Me and Elena are going to go for some coffee, you coming Reno?" asked Rude, forgetting about the rules completely.  
>"Sure."<p>

* * *

><p>Louisa walked into Shinra the next morning to a very happy desk-woman.<br>"First day?" She asked, her brown hair flicking around little square glasses and pretty hazel eyes.  
>"Yes." Louisa replied, and was given an orange sticky note with <em>'Floor 7, Room 13' <em>scribbled on in blue ink.

"The elevator's nice." Louisa told herself, trying to start her new job in a positive mood. Her long golden hair was tied into a neat bun on the top of her head, and a little pink ribbon topped it off in an elegant bow. She straightened out her jacket slightly and loosened her tie. Louisa hated having to wear a tie. The sharp beep from the elevator annoyed her, but she ignored it and walked out onto floor 7. Right in front of her there was room 13. Louisa let out a sigh and breathed in, expecting the worst, which isn't really that far from what she got.

A bald man with sunglasses was sat calmly at his desk, just casually sipping coffee. Next to him, a small woman with blonde hair was typing frantically at her computer. She was the first to notice Louisa come in.

Elena stared for a while, then broke out a huge smile. She was glad Reno was late in today, otherwise the office would be a wreck. That wouldn't really of been the best impression to give to a brand new Turk. Mind you, the ideal office for Elena would be an office all to herself.

Rude acknowledged the girl coming in with a nod and turned back to his computer. Tseng had told him to be nice to her, so he would. He'd keep her away from Reno for as long as was humanly possible.

Louisa decided she'd get talking to the woman first. She'd looked friendlier ever since she came through that door.  
>"Hey, I'm the new rookie um, Louisa." Louisa said, and noticed her voice quivering.<br>"Yeah, hi. I'm Elena. The only one who really cleans up around here." Elena introduced herself. She'd decided to ignore the shakiness in Louisa's voice, remembering far too well what it was like to be the new girl.

Louisa sat down at the empty desk. She knew it was hers-someone had taken the courtesy of putting a huge piece of paper on the computer screen. It said 'Newbie Computer' on it in huge block capitals. Louisa looked over to Elena, holding up the piece of paper. Elena just winked.

Reno woke up, not really wanting to but knowing that he had to. He stared at his clock in disbelief. 9:30 already? More falling than stepping out of bed, Reno rushed (or stumbled, it depends how you view it) to his wardrobe and flung his uniform onto the desk in his room. He was _so_ dead if Tseng noticed how late he was.

Elena turned in horror to the sound of the elevator doors opening. It was either Reno or Tseng, but both of them meant bad news. The redhead burst through the door and fell over, face planting the floor with a groan.

"Why hasn't anyone moved that box?" He shouted.  
>"We <span>did<span>, you idiot." Elena answered. The 'accidentally' kicked his ribs on the way past, knowing full well that they were bruised from their last mission. Rude laughed as he watched his friend roll up into a ball and roll around the office, muttering immature comments about how evil Elena was. He stopped at his desk and looked up.

Why was there a girl sat there? Sure, she wasn't at his desk but she was next to it.  
>"Who's that?" He asked.<br>"Hi, I'm-"  
>"Leave her alone, Reno." Elena growled, cutting Louisa off completely. Reno made a crude imitation of her voice and Louisa laughed, but soon clapped her hand to her mouth when she saw Elena's face.<br>"Sorry." She said simply. Reno couldn't wipe the grin off his face.

* * *

><p>Tseng walked in calmly and studied the situation. No-one was there. He tried the library and all of the hallways to see if they were showing her around, but no. Where were they? Then it hit him. He couldn't believe how stupid he'd been. Of course they weren't in their office. It was <em>lunch<em>.

Rude had gotten bored of waiting in the queue and left Elena on her own while he went to see Reno and… The new girl. As usual, Reno was being a flirt, but he couldn't help it. Rude was beginning to think it was another one of Hojo's experiments, but he knew that not even Reno was stupid enough to accept the job of a guinea pig.

"So, what's your name?" Reno asked, stirring his coffee with a little wooden stick.  
>"Louisa." She answered.<br>"No, that'll never do. Um…"  
>"What? Why?"<br>"Lou sounds so much better." Reno answered.  
>"You think?"<br>"Sweetheart, I know." He answered, aware that Rude was coming and therefore hiding his coffee.

"Well hey. Rude. How are you?" Reno asked, uncomfortable with the situation.  
>"I'll be having that coffee."<br>"What coffee?" Reno said, trying to put on the most innocent face he could.  
>"This coffee?" Louisa put in, holding up Reno's coffee. She watched his eyes widen as he started looking around for his latte, then she watched his glare become evident.<p>

"You're a mean, mean person Lou."  
>"Sweetheart, I know." She said, trying desperately to get on his nerves even more. It worked.<p>

Reno reached across the table for her drink - a can of lemonade - and held it up as high as he possibly could. He started laughing when she jumped up, trying and failing to get it back. Louisa looked up at him with ice blue eyes and said:  
>"Give over, ginger." But all this did was made Reno laugh even more.<p>

"You think I'm ginger? My hair's red! Are you colour-blind or something?" Elena and Rude had left by now, embarrassed far too much for their own good. Everyone was watching.

Tseng walked in the dining hall to a mass of Shinra workers gathered in a huge circle. He heard a familiar taunting voice and knew it was Reno. Pushing his way to the front, he saw that it definitely was Reno. And Louisa, the new Turk. There was something in Reno's hand that he was holding as high away form Louisa as he could, and a smile on his face that said 'Revenge' all over it.

Louisa saw Reno's gaze flicker over to somewhere else, and his smile quickly faded to nothing. The can he was holding was carefully placed into Louisa's hands and he murmured something like 'sorry'.

Lou frowned at the sudden change in persona and looked around, only to see Tseng approaching with a face that meant business, then put the drink back in Reno's hands. He looked down at her, confused, but snapped his head back up to meet Tseng's annoyed stare.  
>"My office, now. Both of you."<p> 


	2. Familiar faces

**- A Final Fantasy VII Reno Fanfiction - by Nightcrawler666 -**

**Next chapter's up! Hope you like it, and it does get better. I promise. Introducing new characters now… Enjoy!**

_**Chapter 2 - Familiar faces**_

"Why were you two fighting earlier?" Tseng growled. At least, that's what Lou thought he did.  
>"It was my fault sir." She lied, not wanting Reno in trouble. Sensing Tseng's foul mood she guessed he'd already got himself into enough lately. Reno looked at her with a face that suggested he was unhappy with what she was doing.<p>

"Was it really?" Tseng accepted the new girl's false statement, but found it strange for her to take the blame for the redhead.  
>"Yes sir. I stole his coffee and-" but Louisa was cut off by Tseng's angry shouts:<br>"Reno! Why were you even drinking coffee?"  
>"I stole his coffee, then I tried to steal his lemonade too."<br>"Funny then, how you looked to full of revenge Reno." Tseng sighed, calming down slightly. Reno let out a nervous laugh before Tseng excused the two of them.

As him and Lou walked down the corridor, Reno couldn't help but wonder why exactly she'd taken the blame for him.  
>"Yo, um, Lou. You wanna come out clubbin' with me and Rude tonight?" he asked, dying to introduce her to people he thought of as being his friends. A few of them were, really, but the other's were just nice enemies to hang around with. Like Tifa, for instance.<p>

"I don't have any plans so, yeah. I wouldn't mind that. Thanks Reno." Lou said, unaware of how red Reno had turned.  
>"Oh! Ok then. I'll meet you outside here, about six, right?"<br>"Sure, sounds good."

* * *

><p>The 7th heaven was usually packed full of her regulars, but Tifa had it completely shut down for the guests she was receiving. Zack had invited some of his old friends, but Tifa wished he hadn't. She knew Reno would bring another girl around, probably a girl Tifa would never see again. She never seemed to see <em>any<em> of them after the first time meeting them. As for Rude, he'd get drunk and fall asleep. Zack only _really_ invited Rude because he was Reno's best friend.

As more and more people started to arrive, Tifa couldn't help but wonder where Aerith was. Mind you, Zack was probably picking up his redhead. Cloud came down the stairs to see Vincent and Yuffie walking in, Vincent obviously uncomfortable at how much the ninja was clinging to him. Yuffie ran to see Tifa and Cid laughed as Vincent brushed out invisible creases in his cape. Barrett and Marlene were there too, and Red XIII seemed to be enjoying playing with the little girl. Somehow Cait Sith had managed to haul himself up onto the bar, and was sat there talking about how upset he wasn't able to drink.

The doors flew open and Zack burst in, shouting  
>"I hope nothing happened!" Aerith pushed him in, and hung her head in embarrassment. Next in was Rude, immediately going over to his newfound friend - Cid. They got talking about bombs and various aircrafts, while Reno walked over to Cloud with Lou.<p>

"Another one?" Cloud asked, as was his usual question whenever he saw Reno with a woman he didn't know. Louisa looked up at Reno with a strange, questioning face.  
>"No, just a new Turks. New here in Edge, too. Thought I'd show her the only thing good about this city." Reno answered, not pausing to answer Lou's unspoken question.<br>"Us?"  
>"No, this bar."<br>"You only like it cos' Tifa's got a huge rack!" Yuffie said from behind him. Everyone laughed but Tifa, who was unhappy with the fact that Yuffie had said that.

* * *

><p>Zack saw the new girl with Reno, and also how he wasn't drinking as much. He mentioned it to Vincent, who was unfazed by the statement. He really didn't care as long as Yuffie wasn't making a fool of herself.<br>"Hey Reno! Who's the chick?" Zack asked, walking over to their table and dragging up a stool for himself.  
>"Just a new kid from work." Reno answered, taking the opportunity to look away from the girl in front of him.<p>

"I get it." Zack joked, winking. "Not having any drinks tonight? It's on the house, Tifa says so." And the ex-SOLDIER jutted a thumb over his shoulder to the barmaid, currently laughing at Cid's ridiculously stupid jokes.  
>"Yeah, just a minute Lou." Reno said to the Turk, who followed despite Reno clearly not meaning for her to do so.<p>

Yuffie'd had a few too many martini's , and was plaiting Vincent's hair. She fell asleep before even Marlene did, But Barrett took her home at 10 anyway. Cloud was helping Tifa at the bar, and Rude had left some time back, when he realised he'd drank enough beer to satisfy an army. Reno, Lou, Zack and Aerith found themselves talking about how Cid was the greatest pilot ever, when said pilot interrupted his own tributes with:  
>"You lot want to hear a joke? Ok, I know you're excited but really, calm down. So, if a quiz is quizzical, then what's a test?"<p>

"Testicle!" Aerith screamed, before realising what she'd said and going bright red. She sank further into Zack's arms, and while he was laughing he let her. Reno got up to get a drink, and sat at the bar talking to Tifa and Cloud.

"Why did she just yell 'testicle' as loud as she could?" Tifa asked, referring to Aerith.  
>"If a quiz is quizzical, then what's a test?"<br>"Testicle!" Cloud said, then covered his mouth and almost fell over laughing.  
>"Yeah, I gotta remember that one…" Tifa chuckled, then served Reno another pint. She couldn't help but noticing him staring at the girl he'd brought with him - Lou, was it?<p>

"Reno's got a crush, Reno's got a crush!" She taunted, but stopped when she saw him turn to her with a confused and troubled face.  
>"Maybe, but would you take the blame for cloud if he did something he could potentially get fired for?" Reno asked, more to himself than the brown-eyed martial-artist over the bar-top.<p>

"Why?"  
>"She took the blame earlier. Tseng wasn't happy with me."<br>"Well then she obviously likes you, doesn't she!"  
>"What? No!" The Turk shouted, and drained his glass out. With a slam, he put hiss glass down on the bar and stormed out.<p>

Lou had still been laughing when she saw Reno leave. She stopped soon afterwards and ran out herself, only to see him halfway down the street already.

* * *

><p>"Reno!" She called out. He turned and saw her, but kept walking. There was a faint flicker as he lit his cigarette, and Louisa sprinted down the road to the man, stopping to walk a few yards behind him, but still catching up.<br>"Reno." He turned to her and stopped, making her walk into him.

"What?" He snapped, angry and annoyed. When she didn't answer, he sighed and threw his cigarette to the floor, walking back in the direction he was originally headed in.  
>"Wait, Reno. I-"<br>"Yes?"  
>"I don't have anywhere to stay." Louisa said and Reno stopped again. He turned and grabbed her by the hand, leading her down the path.<p>

"Where are we going?" She asked.  
>"If you want, you can stay at my place. It's either that, or you go back to the bar and ask Tifa for a room."<br>"Where will I sleep?"  
>"Where you want, I guess. There's a carpet, a table, a sofa, or my bed.""Where would you sleep if I chose your bed."<br>"In my bed, you div! God, can't you think?" He said, but laughed after it. Louisa found herself laughing too, and then realised she was still holding Reno's hand. She didn't let go though. _That_ would just ruin the moment.

* * *

><p>He would have been, but he wasn't happy that he had to share a bed with Louisa. Reno couldn't figure out why, but Lou wasn't like anyone else he'd met before. She was a lot different. For a start, her eyes were like Zack's - infused with Mako energy - but that was a SOLDIER trademark. How could she have them if SOLDIER never accepted any women?<p>

Then, there was the way she actually laughed. He couldn't look at her simply because she looked back, and was genuinely nervous around her. It took him right back to high school, to whenever he saw the girl he fancied (which varied, depending on which day of the week it was). But he couldn't be having the same feelings about Lou. He cringed at the thought.

She was in the shower, just getting off whatever she'd brushed onto herself in the bar. She'd liked the company there, especially Yuffie, who she found was very juvenile, and acted more like a two-year-old than a two-year-old does. It was fun meeting Barrett, he was generally positive about things, and Cid was just a good laugh. Cloud and Tifa she hadn't really spoken to, but she got the impression they were nice people. Rude she knew already, and Aerith hadn't said much except 'Testicle' all night, so she wasn't sure what to think. But Zack. He was just… scary.

It wasn't that he was nasty, or looked sinister, unless puppies look sinister. He was funny and laughed a lot, and was nice to everyone around him, even if he was a little annoying sometimes. It was just that he looked like someone she'd met before. And now, as she thought more about it, Lou realised he was Zack Fair - SOLDIER 1st class. Louisa had reckoned he was someone she knew, but now it was all clear. He'd been her mentor. Lou couldn't begin to hope he hadn't noticed. Hard not to when she was Hojo's creation of a female ultimate warrior.

"You done yet?" Reno asked, tapping on the door. He heard the shower go off and Lou opened the door, towel wrapped around her. Reno's face had turned red and he knew it.  
>"Yes. Everything alright Reno? You've gone bright red!" Lou joked, knowing exactly why he was red. Louisa giggled as the man in front of her struggled for words, his mouth opening and closing. Then he smiled shyly, something he knew was completely out of character for him.<p>

"Nah. Course not. What makes you think there has to be something wrong with voluntarily changing your face to match your hair colour?" He asked Louisa, expecting an answer he wasn't going to get. She pushed past him and made her way to his room.


	3. Alpha Dog

**- A Final Fantasy VII Reno Fanfiction - by Nightcrawler666 -**

**Not much to say really… Oh yeah, the songs in this chapter are all by Fall Out Boy. I recommend listening to them if you like metal/punk rock because I think they're pretty cool, but hey… U don't have to. Sorry it's so short!**

_**Chapter 3 - Alpha Dog**_

Music was blaring out of the speakers incredibly loudly when Lou woke up. In fact, she was surprised she hadn't woken up because of it. She heard muffled swearing and cursing from the bathroom, and so that was her first stop.

"Reno?" She asked and tapped lightly on the white wood of the door. He walked out with his uniform trousers on, and a lime green towel round his neck. He looked frustrated.  
>"Great!" He lied and bit his lip. He'd wrapped a hot towel round his arm, and Lou was guessing that was where the pain was coming from. Leaving him to curse on the sofa, she went in the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash herself up.<p>

There wasn't much blood, Reno knew that. His fingers had started going numb and by then. Lou was looking worried, and Reno's knuckles were looking raw.  
>"What did you do?" She asked, concerned but laughing at his clumsiness.<br>"I- No! You've asked me like 6 times already, yo! I'm not saying."  
>"What did you do, Reno?" Lou asked, squashing his fingers with both of her hands.<br>"I punched the wall. Do you know someone who's good at plastering?" Reno asked, staring towards the bathroom. Lou stifled a laugh.

Tseng didn't look impressed when Reno and Lou turned up together, but his face changed completely when he stared at Reno's left hand. He'd refused to bandage it up, so that he wasn't making it look 'worse than it really is, yo'. It was horrible to look at, so when she saw it, Elena turned sharply away from it.

"Sir?" Reno asked, and waved the mangled hand in Tseng's face. He stared at it then grabbed it, constricting it to the point where Reno fell to the floor screaming for mercy. Elena and Rude were failing not to chuckle at this. It was funny, after all.

Half an hour later and Reno was all normal again. Normal for him anyway. Loud music could be heard smashing out of his headphones and it was distracting _everyone_.

"Reno?" Elena said, then gave up when she realised what he was listening to. Rude didn't want to get involved when his partner was wearing his noise-cancelling headphones. He wore them to shut everyone out while he listened to his 'theme songs' as he called them.

Lou rose slowly and walked towards the redhead, currently lashing his head back and forth miming words no-one could understand. She put her hands on his shoulders and was surprised when she didn't see him stop moving. To solve this dilemma, she pushed down, watching as Reno's shoulders hunched to his ears and he threw off his green headphones.

"What the fuck was that for? I was being the Alpha Dog!" He yelled, making little puppy ears on his head at the name of the song. Lou listened carefully to the words echoing out of the speakers on the desk.

_We must have the best coach,  
><em>_Tell the best jokes,  
><em>_We must make it hard to look so easy doing something so hard.  
><em>_You must see my way,  
><em>_They scream when they look at me!  
><em>_I'm a I'm a star, __I'm a I'm a star.  
><em>_I'm a star, Oh…_

Suddenly the music cut out, and so did the lights, and the computers, and the whole building went into lockdown as big metal shutters slammed down on the windows and the elevator outside. Lou clung to Reno despite him still being sat down and didn't let go until she remembered who it was she was holding. She was glad the lights were out.

Somehow Rude and Tseng managed to open the door, and everyone decided it was better for them to take a couple of torches and find a way out than all of them go and get lost. The other three Turks were left with jut the one torch between themselves, and Reno's EMR.

Lou fell swiftly asleep using Reno's legs as a cushion, and Reno brought out his MP3 and some headphones, annoyingly starting to hum to more Fall Out Boy songs. Elena was touched by the fact Reno was letting Lou sleep on him, but confused as to why. She was also pretty frustrated with some of the lyrics Reno was singing now.

"Why don't you show me a little bit of spine,  
>You've been saving for this mattress?<br>I only want to think,  
>In the form of you crawling into bed with me." He sang, leaning his head slowly backwards and banging it deliberately on the desk. He closed his eyes again and let himself fall asleep. When he woke up he was pretty terrified…<p> 


	4. Waking up hurts

**- A Final Fantasy VII Reno Fanfiction - by Nightcrawler666 -**

**IDK what to say. When I started this I just finished chapter 3 so I got it up pretty quick. Nothing much happens but hopefully a plot will come out of this…Here's the next chapter! PLEASE REVIEW!**

_**Chapter 4 - Waking up hurts**_

Lou's arms were draped around his neck and tied at the back with coarse rope, and Reno himself was laid uncomfortably on a stretcher. Where they were he had no idea, but he didn't like the crate of guns in the corner with their barrels sticking out threateningly, or the bloodstains on the wall that were reluctant to leave the room.

He tried to nudge Lou awake to find his hands tied to the top of the stretcher, and tried again with his chin. When that didn't work he tried kicking her awake, since his legs were free. When all failed he head-butted her. Lou awoke and was surprised by her surroundings.

"What? Why, how? Where am I? Reno? Where are we and why are we tied up and why are we tied up _together_, and where's Elena, and Tseng, and Rude? Reno?" Louisa shouted. Reno regretted having ever woken her. She'd looked so peaceful!

He hadn't seen or felt it before but when Reno looked down at Lou he saw a huge red bloodstain on the left side of his shirt. Suppressing his gasp and nodding at the girl with a fake smile, Reno looked at Lou and her SOLDIER blue eyes and her golden hair and took in the full features of her face. SOLDIER blue eyes?

"What's that meant to mean? Who _nods_ when I ask serious questions about where the fuck we are and what the fuck we're doing here? Reno listen to me! Wait, what are you looking at?" Lou said, following Reno's painful gaze to his ribs. She saw the blood on his shirt and went to touch it, not realising her bonds and jerking Reno's head forward towards her own.

Both of the Turks pulled away faster than light speed and their lips brushed against each other for a spit second. They both turned red and stared away - Reno at the wall and Lou at his ribs.

They were horribly bloodied and mangled, the red liquid had made the white shirt translucent and Lou could see the gaping hole although never having wanted to. Reno was looking at her again, she noticed. Staring directly into her eyes.

"Why are your eyes that colour?" Reno started. Lou didn't answer.  
>"I know that they're SOLDIER blue, but why? I thought they never accepted chicks?" He carried on, trying to coax Lou into a conversation.<p>

"They didn't." She finally replied.  
>"So why are your eyes SOLDIER blue?"<br>"Because I'm not a 'chick'."  
>"You're a guy?"<br>"No. I'm a genetic creation. Reno, I'm just a worthless little Mako injected friggin' Jenova project!"

"But you're a chick, right?" Reno said, then felt warm tears under his shirt. He bent his head down to rest it on hers and she found herself strangely comforted by Reno, and drifting slowly back into her slumber.

* * *

><p>Both of them woke the next day in a different room and free to move, but the room was no larger than a single bed and the only furniture was a shelf halfway up the east wall and a rolled up duvet in the corner.<br>"Now where are we?" Lou asked, having not seen or felt anyone move them in the night.

The room was dark, the only light was creeping in from a thin window near the ceiling. Reno tried to stand up and felt his legs give way beneath him. Lou made a huge fuss over helping him up despite feeling like she hadn't eaten in weeks. Reno felt the same way. With a strong pull she lifted him up to meet her standing and both of them looked out of the small window. It was about 20cm tall, maybe 50cm across. There was no way it was an escape route.

Without warning the door opened and a tall man similar in stature to Rude walked in, but it clearly wasn't Rude. A sniper rifle hung in a sling from his shoulders and he wore a pair of ripped blue jeans. His t-shirt was a vivid orange colour and he wore large mirrored sunglasses. Lou shrank back behind Reno seeming intimidated as the redhead moved away from the widow to face the newcomer. In return a knife was pointed at Reno, and he pushed Lou further behind him.

Both of them were equally surprised when the man turned the hilt of the shimmering golden blade to Reno, signalling him to take it. A medical kit no larger than a pocket dictionary was brought from a bag slung over one of his broad shoulders and he pointed with the handle of the knife towards Reno's ribs before throwing the first aid behind Reno to the young Turk.

After this the mysterious saviour had left Reno fell to the floor and lay flat on his back, with his hands on his stomach groaning.  
>"Why didn't he give us some food?" He whined, then lurched away feeling Lou trying to touch his ribs. He held out a hand in her face and waved it around trying to get her to retreat back to the corner but she grabbed his wrist and shot him a glare.<p>

* * *

><p>From where Tseng was he could hear screams, sounding like a certain missing redhead he knew, but he decided to ignore them. He was in a tiny room with a single duvet to share between three people, and Rude wasn't exactly the smallest guy Tseng knew.<p>

None of them had seen anyone since they got there except each other. In fact, for Elena, hearing Reno scream was a relief even though he sounded in pain. At least he was alive, and now she knew that. With her hopeful instinct Elena concluded that Reno was with Lou, and was terrified of the fact that he might not be. But then, if he wasn't, then who was?

Rude had a different view on the entire situation. The five Turks had been locked inside their own Shinra building and smuggled out somehow, then put into tiny rooms ready to be tortured. To him the screams suggested that the torture had already begun for his best friend, and he cringed at the thought of it. Focusing his mind on something else, Rude couldn't help but wonder why they were captives. What could the Turks possibly have that was relative to anyone else?

* * *

><p>"It stings! Lou cut it out, that stings! Ah, shit!" Reno whispered, grimacing with every burning swab of alcohol the ex-SOLDIER wiped onto his wound. It had started to get infected and Lou had to scrub vigorously at the edges to remove scabs that had dried over dirt and were becoming blistered. Reno wasn't happy about it and would let out a curse every minute or two.<p>

When she was done Lou went back to the medical bag to find there were no bandages and panicked. Reno would kill her if there were no bandages, because that would mean she'd have to clean it like that every day. She turned to face him with a frown.

"There's no bandages, Reno." She said, looking at the floor. Reno rolled his eyes and took off his jacket, then pulled his shirt over his head. He picked up the knife he'd been given from the floor and cut off the bloodstained part of it, then threw the cleaner piece at Lou. She couldn't stop staring at him. Sure, she'd seen him topless before, but…

"Hello? Dreamer!" Reno shouted, snapping Lou out of her temporary trance and setting her to work creating a bandage out of his shirt. She was soon finished, and crawled over to Reno with it in her hands. It took her a while to muster up the nerve to bandage him in case she were to go bright red, but she got around to it eventually. When she was almost done, Lou pulled the rag away from the cut slightly and dabbed a little more alcohol on it. Reno consequently spouted a long loud string of curses at the girl.

* * *

><p>Once again they woke together, but this time in the same room. Somehow both of them had rolled each other over to the other side of the room and were enveloped in the blankets. It was awkward for Lou to wake up with Reno's arms and legs wrapped tightly around her, but it was amplified by the fact that they were not alone. In the corner, curled into an unusually peaceful ball, was Yuffie. Lou couldn't move because of where Reno was sleeping, so she lay there for a while enjoying the silence.<p>

Reno woke up laid on top of Lou, and immediately made an effort to get off her. It was then that he noticed the young ninja on the other side of the room, and rolled over to wake her up. When he touched her shoulder with his left hand a fist came up in his face and he was knocked backwards. Yuffie was awake, at least.

After a few minutes Yuffie was awake completely, and she explained how Vincent was brought here as well, but he escaped through the window to get help. Before he left he'd explained how it might take him a while to relocate the place, but he would be here in no more than a week.

"A week? A whole fuckin' week without food! I can't do that, yo!" Reno complained. As if on cue, the door opened to reveal the same man who had helped Reno and Lou the night before, and three plates of chips and mayonnaise were placed I front of them. He put a bowl of chicken scraps down in front of them and Yuffie was positive Reno was drooling. The door shut and the redhead then fell back victoriously with his hands behind his head.  
>"See what whinging gets you?"<p> 


	5. Letting go

**- A Final Fantasy VII Reno Fanfiction - by Nightcrawler666 -**

**OK I'm lost… I guess I could beg you to review? REVIEW! Oh, I recommend listening to this track. It's a remix of a HALO theme tune. Listen to it even if u don't like HALO. I think it sets the mood **_**perfectly: **_.com/watch?v=PuMrCH-eKeI **If that doesn't work, type in** _'__Halo Never Forget Trance Remix 2010' _**It's by a guy called 'Exist446'. I'm sorry it took so long for such a short chapter, but I had to do it in small parts because I kept crying :'( **

_**Chapter 5 - Letting go**_

It had taken weeks, but Vincent had got them out. First he'd had to breach their security limits. That hadn't been too hard really. The same sniper that had been helping The Turks and Yuffie had been killed last after Vincent was notified of his duties to deliver them necessities. Then, he'd had to get them all out. The demon-infested man shuddered as he recalled the day's events.

No-one had meant it to happen like that. It was meant to be silent. Sneaky. But it wasn't. Yuffie had successfully distracted the guards right until she saw they had guns. That was when she ran back to her fellow escapee's. That was when it all went wrong.

"Come on Lou, we can make it! Just take my hand and I'll lift you over." Reno shouted down to the Rookie, extending one of his hands and leaving the other one on the fence. Tseng was already over, and so was Yuffie. They were trying to get Elena over the top.

Lou turned to see three men with Kevlar vests on and heavy machine guns cradled in their arms. They were all in blue overalls, and huge black boots like the pair she used to wear in SOLDIER. Climbing up to his height as fast as she could and taking his hand, Lou felt herself being swiftly carried up and above the (previously) electric fence by the surprisingly strong Turk. She saw Rude begin to climb and Reno do the same for his best friend despite the armed men advancing fast towards him.

It all happened so fast and Lou couldn't even scream as she saw it taking place before her.

The shot rang out and Rude turned rapidly to see his friend falling from the fence. He began to shimmy his own way down and drew out his pistol to shoot the men advancing on Reno, catching one in the knee and another in the head. Lucky shots. The other one did not cease to advance and could be seen drawing a machete from a scabbard at his hip.

Lou stared in horror from the other side of the fence as a mangled, rusty blade was malevolently thrust through Reno's heart. In a brisk attempt to climb the fence she was pulled down by Tseng's sturdy arms. Screaming, she was pinned to the floor. She could feel the salty tears rolling slowly down her cheeks, see the blood flowing freely out of Reno's body, and his chest heave one last time before all of his remaining breath was gone.

She heard Rude slowly and cruelly beating the man's guts out, and she could practically taste the fear she felt. Her stomach lurched and she cried his name once more.

* * *

><p>It all happened so fast and Reno couldn't even figure out what happened as he saw it from his own eyes.<p>

He turned back to the fence after helping Lou over and felt a dull ache in his shoulder. He tried to keep his grip but he lurched forward and his body hit the fence, falling back soon afterwards. He felt his body hit the floor hard and he heard Lou cry out to him.

Then he turned, and even though Reno saw the man, he made no move to stop him. He stared deep into the bright green eyes of his attacker. Saw the blade in his chest. He heard one last shout from Lou on the other side of the fence as Rude was utterly destroying the man with only his fists.

Reno could see blood on the ground next to him, but he felt no pain. He started to wonder whether it was already over, if he was already gone. Then he felt he was being lifted. It wasn't Rude, he was still fighting. Tseng Elena and Lou were still on the other side of the fence. When he glanced up to see the face of his saviour, he saw Yuffie instead. He let his head roll back and he saw his aggressor lifeless on the floor, and Rude running to keep up with them. With a heavy sigh he let his lungs surrender and his only remaining breath left him silently.

* * *

><p>It had been weeks now. But Reno still hadn't woken up. Every now and again he'd stop breathing, and Lou would wordlessly pray he was OK. No-one wanted Reno to die. Tseng pretended he didn't care as much as anyone else, and protested against the fact that it wouldn't be the same without the noisy red-head in the corner of their office. Elena couldn't hide her tears whenever she entered the same room as Reno, and Rude had been off work since the point when Reno had been diagnosed as comatose. He hadn't been seen or heard from since the point where he had to let go of his best friend.<p>

There was one time when Tseng had to beg Rufus not to shut off the life support, and one time when His heart had actually stopped beating. Every day Reno looked less and less well, and more tired than ever. Lou couldn't leave the room. She'd been there as long as he had. She was beginning to think he was letting go, and if he was, it would mean she would have to as well…


	6. A little Family issue

**- A Final Fantasy VII Reno Fanfiction - by Nightcrawler666 -**

**And once again IDK wat 2 say… O well. ENJOY! ****lolz. Sorry i took so long to upd8 with a tiny chaptr, but i was busy reading 'Love and Sin' by ZakuReno. It's a RenoxOC fanfic, really good. (hint hint)**

_**Chapter 6 - A little Family issue **_

"Lou?" Reno woke and lurched immediately forward. His shoulder was bandaged and the white linen was bloodstained. The room was unfamiliar to him, the walls were a sterile ivory colour and the floor was tiled the same sickly cream. A royal blue chair was in the corner next to the door, and a tiny wall sconce provided the only real light for the room. There were no windows and no-one else was there, but as Reno attempted to lift himself out of bed he heard click in the lock of the door.

"Shit."

Tseng opened the door and Reno tried to scramble back into bed, falling even further out of it and onto the floor. The Wutaian Turk's face lit up with an uncharacteristic grin and ran to Reno, helping him back up onto the bed and running back to the door.  
>"Elena! Call Rude and tell him it's urgent!" He shouted, still with the grin.<p>

Through the open door Reno saw Lou walk past with a tray of coffee mugs. With a quick look into the room she stopped dead and dropped the tray, gaining strange looks from Tseng and other workers simply passing through the Shinra building. Her jaw clenched and tears welled up in her eyes as she stormed past her leader and to beside Reno's bed.

The red-head looked up with terrified eyes to the woman in front of him and gave a shy smile before she practically jumped on him. He fell back on the bed as Lou gripped him in a tight bear hug, and felt a pang of guilt when he felt her tears on his bare shoulders. He returned the embrace as best he could with his constricted arms before the arrival of Rude and Elena separated them.

* * *

><p>"Ok, Ok. I get it! You're all glad I'm back…" Reno said, after being bombarded by Shinra workers in the lunch hall. Tseng walked back over with a tray of everyone's meals.<p>

"You have _got_ to be kidding me, yo!" Reno complained. "I've been out for _weeks_ and everyone but _me_ gets coffee! That's jes' so _fair_, isn't it!" He finished.  
>"Reno, are you forgetting what happened last time <em>you<em> had a _coffee?" Elena said.  
><em>"Yes. I try." Reno replied, and many long moments later Lou summoned up the courage to ask:

"Why isn't Reno allowed coffee?" Tseng left the table at this remark, and Rude smiled a bit while nudging Elena, hinting for her to tell the story.

"Well, it was a while back but I remember it. Listen in. So, it was like any other lunchtime here at Shinra. Reno decided he'd get himself a coffee. He went to the machine and poured it in his cup, then he came back and sat with us. We didn't know he was drinking coffee. About half-an-hour later, he started to act kinda…weird. Then he went mad and ran riot all over Shinra. He trashed the entire building." By the time Elena was finished, Reno had kicked back with his hands behind his head, looking smug. Lou just laughed.

* * *

><p>It had been a pretty long day really. All of the running about everyone had to do for Reno. Now, Elena had left to go home and Tseng and Rude were getting into an argument about who should get the other's paperwork tomorrow morning.<p>

"Reno." Lou said, with a slight sigh behind it.  
>"Yup? What'dya want now, Lou?" He answered in his usual slur.<br>"Have you got anyone to take care of you? I mean like family and friends and stuff?"

Reno had been polishing his spare firearm, but now stopped abruptly for a second. He frowned slightly and his brown eyebrows furrowed together in much confusion. Then he went back to his gun.

"Reno?"  
>"Hmm?" He hummed, looking up at his fellow golden-haired Turk. For the first time he noted the pink ribbon in her hair and was easily distracted by it.<br>"Reno!"  
>"What?"<p>

"Where are you staying tonight?"  
>"Why?"<br>"Where?"  
>"My flat, I guess. So did you find a place to stay or what, yo?"<br>"Yes, near Tifa's place, but don't try to change the subject. Who's taking care of you tonight?" Concern was written all over her face.

"Fine. I'll go to-"  
>"Where is it? Friend or Family." Reno scratched the back of his neck - a nervous habit.<br>"Friend. I guess…" And Lou left with an anxious frown on her face.

* * *

><p>So Reno walked lonely streets to where he was going after work. He deliberately told no-one to follow him. Reno knew that if Tseng didn't kill him for this then Lou would get pretty close to it. Not wanting to be caught or give up one of his few chances, he'd proceeded as making sure nobody knew where he was going. He hadn't had many chances recently.<p> 


	7. Pour Me

**- A Final Fantasy VII Reno Fanfiction - by Nightcrawler666 -**

**Actually I think U no that already^… I recommend u listen 2 **_**'Pour Me' **_**by **_**Hollywood Undead**_**, because it kinda fits perfectly with this chap. It should, because it kinda gave me the whole idea. Please R&R! **

**Oh, and just a little Shout out to my current reviewers! Thank u so much:  
>Dippychick16 + DarkFire67 = u make ma day!<strong>

_**Chapter 7 - Pour Me**_

The old brass door swung quickly open with a low, irritating creak from it's ancient hinges. Reno cringed inwardly at the annoyance, but gave a smirk to the barmaid anyway. She was short and Blonde, her hair in little bunches either side of her head. Her brown eyes were happy and joyful, but Reno knew her better than that. Sylvia had a past she didn't ask for, mostly affected by ShinRa and (unsurprisingly) the Turks.

About 6 or 7 years had passed since Reno dropped the plate on Midgar, but he still blamed himself for it. Sylvia had convinced him she didn't care anymore, but by the squeak of the chair as he threw his weight on it, and the bandages visible under his shirt, the apologetic look he gave her and all of the menacing glares the Redheaded Turk was shot from across the room, he hadn't taken it in yet.

"Just a few, Sylv'. or Tseng'll nail me to a cross in the morning' when I'm late." He sighed, ignoring his lamenters on the other side of the room.

"The usual, Re?" She asked, straightening her green apron and turning to the drinks. When she got no answer, she poured him a light beer anyway and turned to see him with his head in his hands. As the pint glass slid across the counter to him, Reno slowly took his right hand away from his temple and grasped his drink with a sturdy hold.

* * *

><p>It had been about an hour and 14 pints when Reno spoke again.<br>"Why do people hate the _*hic* _Turks so _*hic* _much Syl_*hic*_v?" Reno asked in a drunken disorder. The barmaid shook her head and turned around to talk to her friend, but something about the shifty people in the corner eyeing his uniform up told her she really shouldn't get involved. She muttered a simple "I don't know." and span around quickly as the larger of the 4 spectators started to walk over.

"Any chance you could pour me anoth-" Reno asked, and upon a hard, gloved fist colliding with his jaw he was forced to cut his sentence short and fall heavily to the floor. He fumbled around lazily for his spare gun in his jacket but dropped his ammunition, and a boot with a sharp high heel spiked his stomach.

The drunk was hauled to his feet by a man in a vicar's uniform and thrown out of the door, the same annoying screech echoing out even now. There was a scream as Reno lashed out his baton and it hit the leg of the woman attacking him. She fell to the ground next to him and kicked his ribs again before, running away swiftly.

Reno tried to push himself against the wall and curl up in the small alleyway, but was unsuccessful, and the same menacing hand as before pushed his head to the floor. A heavy boot stamped on his back 3 times before finally kicking his crotch and disappearing completely.

Sore and bruised, Reno used a sore arm to lift himself up to his knees. He heard the same painful noise of the door opening for the third time that night and braced for impact. Shock hit him when he heard the familiar 16 year old voice of Sylvia at his ears, helping him to his feet.

"Come on Re. Come back inside and I'll get you some help." She said, trying to make sense to the drunken man who had orphaned her all those years ago.

"Can't. I'll get… Murdered… Again." He choked out, and felt his stomach lurch when he tasted the blood in his mouth. He brought up his arm and wiped his nose with the sleeve of his tattered blazer, seeing vast amounts of blood on the black fabric and almost fainting due to pain and the sudden nausea that was washing all over his frail body. The beaten Turk pushed his saviour away and turned to the opening of the alley. He wasn't going to hospital, or Rude and Elena's. He was going to Tifa's.

* * *

><p>Tifa looked up and away from the dishes she was washing, and to the door her husband had clearly forgotten to lock, to see a bedraggled and familiar redhead drifting in. He lifted his head and smiled, but pain racked his features and the grin turned more to an agonizing groan. The brunette barmaid ran over and took his broad shoulders in her hands, shaking them and whispering profanities in the name of Reno.<p>

"CLOUD!"

The blonde ran down the stairs to Tifa, nervously quivering over a passed out redhead on the counter.

"Is that…Reno?" Cloud stared at the terrifyingly still form of a usually cocky, arrogant Turk he knew so well for these traits and shuddered, seeing the bloodstained clothes and the sickly red fluid that his wife hadn't bothered to clean from his face. A muffled 'Yes' was heard from the sobbing martial-artist next to him, and he moved to hold her while flicking open his phone and dialling Aerith's number.

* * *

><p>Zack pulled his car to a stop outside 7th heaven and dropped his girlfriend off, absent-mindedly ringing Reno's house phone to see if his partner in crime was up for a night out. After receiving no answer, he decided he'd go and see whatever had been so urgent that Cloud had called Aerith at 3 o'clock in the morning.<p>

The ebony-haired SOLDIER was hocked to see the exact same person he'd just tried to invite drinking in such a state when he sauntered on in. Aerith was bent over him, one hand on his forehead and the other with a variety of materia clutched in a tight fist. She looked quite anxious, and her shoulders were heaving up and down as if she were breathing heavily.

He kept his casual pace up despite wanting to run over, and put his arms carefully around her waist, resting his head on her shoulder and kissing her cheek gently in a futile attempt to calm her down. Tifa was practically hyperventilating on a barstool in the corner, Cloud kneeling in front of her whispering desperately calm words to her.

* * *

><p>Lou woke up to her depressingly happy ring tone and looked at the clock before answering it. 4 o'clock and Zack was calling?<br>"This had better be good, Zack." She said, quite angrily.  
>"I-It's Reno, he's a little- scratch that, really ruffed up!"<br>"What? How do you know?"  
>"He's at 7th heaven now. If you can, then you-" The phone shut with a deafening <em>'snap' <em>and Lou charged all the way to Tifa's bar in evil Dalmatian pyjamas and a tan leather jacket, with huge, malevolently pink bunny slippers.


	8. And again

**- A Final Fantasy VII Reno Fanfiction - by Nightcrawler666 -**

**Feelin' sorry for Reno at the moment, so I've told Lou to help him recover… XD**

**Also, a HUGE shout out to: **

**! KagumeUchiha101 ! **

**Thnx for putting me on alert and in ur favourites. U made my day! xXx**

_**Chapter 8 - And again**_

As Lou entered the bar, she could (still) see Zack trying to figure out what happened to his phone when she hung up, Tifa being uselessly bear-hugged in the corner by Cloud, and Aerith huddled over a seemingly dead body, crying. Lou _hoped _it was only seemingly dead.

She ran over, the big floppy ears on her bunny slippers scuffing lightly on the floor. At first she hesitated to look, then she couldn't bring herself not to. It was a sorry sight, especially in the eyes of a Turk, to see their second-in-command in such a terrible state. Lou bit back the tears and went to Cloud, one of the only two who weren't crying.

"What happened to him?" She asked, hearing (or imagining, she wasn't sure) her voice waver somewhere in the middle. Cloud looked up at her with similar eyes to her own and she turned away, lest he notice that.

"I-… We don't really know. It had been at least an hour before Zack called you. Aerith's been going at it ever since she got here." He said, gesturing towards the healer with the hand that wasn't wrapped tightly around his wife. Lou made that her next stop, taking extreme care not to look at Reno. She feared crying in front of these people, despite her considering them as her friends.

"Aerith?" She asked, then was mildly surprised when the healer looked up. Lou hadn't expected her to.

"Yes, sweetheart?" The ancient asked, looking back to Reno as soon as she saw Lou there. She looked back up after seeing the flash of pink in her hair, then continued with the restore materia, unconsciously noting what she had just seen.

"Is he going to be alright?" Lou asked. The ex-SOLDIER watched a single tear fall onto the bar next to Reno's body and silently acknowledged that he probably wasn't. Then, she ran back home and poured her heart out onto her sofa.

3 weeks later and Reno, yet again, woke up in a hideous white room. But it wasn't at ShinRa this time. His vision was blurry, and a splitting headache was cracking slowly across his skull. As he sat up, he saw a blur of pink and blue.

"He's awake!" Reno heard an all-too-familiar voice say. It was Zack, in all of his juvenile pride. "Aerith!"

After a long, heavy wait for the painkillers to kick in, Zack and Aerith tried their best to get the truth from the Turk. With every question, Reno answered the same 'Does it matter? No.' and received the same desperate looks from Aerith.

"Well then that's just _it._" Zack said, yanking his phone clumsily out of his pocket and dialling a number. Reno's eyebrows peaked his forehead in curiosity and he tried to lean in for a better look.

"Who're ya callin'?" Reno asked. Aerith glanced at the screen and giggled, shoving Zack's shoulder.

"Hey. Louisa? It's Zack. Reno-" Zack pulled the phone from his ear and stared at it for a while. "Oh…"

"Reno!" Lou screamed, barging past nurses after seeing her favourite red-headed Turk was awake and alive. He fell back to his bed and sighed, muttering murderous curses to Zack. When he looked back to Lou, he noticed how big her grin was, and how her Mako-infused eyes were glowing brighter than ever. She was wearing her hair down for the first time, but the pink ribbon was still there; as a hair band, keeping her bangs out of her face. Reno couldn't help but smile. 'Damn!' he thought. 'I'm going soft…'

She reached him eventually, holding him tighter than last time. He felt her soft golden hair on his face and returned the hug, all the while smiling madly.

"Reno, I'm so glad to see you!" She said, cupping his face in her hands and making him look up at her. She was wearing a pale yellow tracksuit, and a golden locket hung loosely around her slim neck. Reno was still smiling, and hadn't noticed Tseng, Elena and Rude had also tagged along. Weird, they were all in gym clothes…

"Reno, how are you feeling?" Tseng asked, then Elena poked her head over his shoulder and pinched his cheek.

"First question's mine. Reno, how are you feeling?" She said, grumpily at first but beaming with radiant joy at the actual question. Rude rolled his eyes behind his shades and watched as Reno simply nodded and murmered something along the lines of 'Fine, why does everyone _ask that?'. Lou span around in circles jumping up and down, buzzing with excitement just like Elena. She'd taken Rude's hands in her own and was bouncing around in a manic dance before him, screeching in the most annoying of her voices "He's back! He's back! Reno's finally back. Rude smiled and let go of Elena, walking over to Reno. _

_Reno almost yelped when Rude picked him up with strong arms and held him close. _

"_I missed you, buddy!" He said. Aerith and Zack were both falling about in fits of laughter as they watched Reno's slim face turning purple, and Elena was controlling Tseng's arms in robotic motions, imitating a dance with jiving about herself. _

"_Rude, I- no air!" Reno gasped, strangled and deprived of oxygen. He was prepared to sigh in relief when his feet finally touched the floor but he had nothing left in him. Rude let out a seldom-heard chuckle, and put on a seldom-seen smile while watching his friend catching his breath. When Reno looked up he greeted Tseng with a hearty handshake and turned to embrace Lou again, longing just to touch her. _

"_Where's Lou?" He asked, shocked that she wasn't there. Aerith snapped her head up from Zack's shirt and her brow crumpled in characteristic worry. Zack took one look at his girlfriend and planted a kiss on her forehead. Then he stood up and spoke exclusively to Reno._

"_Come on then…" _


	9. Let it all Out

**- A Final Fantasy VII Reno Fanfiction - by Nightcrawler666 -  
><strong>**Dun Dun DUN! Next chapter ;) Aww poor Lou… :'( I don't own Dangermouse, but it'd be cool if I did… And I don't hate it as much as Lou, more like as much as Reno hates it (not very much)!**

_**Chapter 9 - Let it all out**_

After 15 minutes of Reno and Zack searching the hospital, there was really only one place she could be that they hadn't checked. Then again, she might have left. Zack had forced that out of the question.

"You go in! It probably isn't the first time for you anyway!" Zack argued.  
>"And what the hell is <em>that <em>supposed to mean?" Reno snapped, genuinely offended.

"Well, this is no way the first time you've been into a ladies' bathroom." Zack said, in a stating-the-obvious kind of tone. Reno huffed a long breath out and headed back to his Hospital room.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Zack called after Reno, running after him like the puppy his old mentor used to refer to him as.  
>"Elena and Aerith, dimwit."<p>

* * *

><p>"Hey, um 'Laney… We need a favour." Reno said, scratching his neck. Elena jumped up from where she was sat on Rude's lap, waking him up.<br>"What is it?" She asked, reluctant to help.

"Can you and Aerith check the ladies' room for Lou?" Elena's face went blank and she took Aerith by the wrist, dragging her out. Zack, being himself, blew a kiss after Aerith. In return he got a giggle and a blush accompanied by a sharp elbow in his ribs.

"Lou?" Elena said, peeping her head around the door. The room had ivory tiles on the floor, and halfway up the wall. The rest of the way it was baby pink. Aerith followed the young Turk in and pointed to the cubicle on the end, the only one with a shut door. A faint sobbing was heard.

"Lou…" Elena repeated, this time in a more sympathetic tone. Aerith gasped when she heard the muffled crying from the girl that, in her head, she had given the award of 'strongest woman emotionally'. But now, she just seemed so vulnerable then, and Aerith couldn't stand it.

"I'm fine, Elena." She lied. Opening up the door, Lou stepped out. Her mascara, applied so well before that it looked as though her lashes were _really_ that long, was dripping down her face with the streams of hot tears she cried. Lou tried her best to smile, but burst back into tears and held her face in her hands.

Aerith and Elena walked over to comfort her, seeing clearly that she was in great stress. Lou sniffled a little and tried to push her away. Then, she started crying again.

"Lou? What's wrong Lou?" Elena asked. Aerith decided at this point it was best to move out, incase Lou was about to reveal something extremely personal. After all, her and Lou weren't that friendly with each other yet.

After Aerith had left, Elena repeated her question.  
>"What's wrong? You can tell, me I promise I won't tell anyone."<br>"Promise?" Lou said, her head jerking up from her hands.  
>"Promise. Don't be afraid to cry either - it's good to let it all out." The Blonde Turk reassured the other.<p>

"It's Reno. He-"  
>"What did he do to you? Lou you have to tell me! I might be able to help you, if you just tell me. God, that little bastard's gonna get it this time." Elena shouted, practically exploding. Lou looked petrified.<p>

"I can't tell you, Elena. Not now."  
>"Why not?"<br>"It wasn't… He didn't do anything." Elena's face looked shocked.

* * *

><p>Zack and Reno had been waiting outside the bathroom when Aerith came out.<br>"Lou's crying." She'd said. Reno smacked his forehead and turned to the wall, repeatedly smashing his fist against it. Aerith proceeded to pull Zack away, back to where Reno was _meant _to be.

He was still there when Lou ran out. Actually, she ran into him.

* * *

><p>Reno lifted his head from the wall and let his muscles relax again. If anyone was going to talk to her, it was going to be him. He turned to the door and took a deep breath, lifting his arm to knock on the flimsy white wood. The door opened, and before Reno really knew what was going on, Lou charged out and crashed into his chest. She looked up at him with blurry eyes, crying, and then pushed him away and kept running.<p>

* * *

><p>Lou pulled away from Elena and made for the door, pulling it open and running out into a wall of unexpected muscle. She looked up through a river of tears to see Reno, and was slightly comforted that she wasn't in the arms of a complete stranger. He looked worried and empathetic, but Lou shoved him off of herself and ran.<p>

She got home and decided to take a shower. She kept her hair down, deciding to wash it, and stripped herself free of her vivid yellow tracksuit. After the workout at ShinRa earlier, she really needed a shower. Mind you, Lou always took a shower when she was sad, a bath when she was angry. The water was her way of relaxing.

She was almost finished drying herself when a loud knock resounded from her apartment door."Coming!" She shouted, not wanting them to go away. Any company was going to be adored at this time.

Tying her hair up in a very high ponytail, she walked to the door in her dressing gown.  
>"Lou!" He said, smiling slightly. It was Reno. Lou shut the door again, only for him to open it again once she'd sat down on her sofa.<p>

"Reno, get out." She murmured, her head between her knees.  
>"No. Well, not until you tell me something, yo. What was up with you earlier. You know you can tell me."<br>"Tch. You sound _just _like Elena did earlier." Lou said. Reno let out a sigh.  
>"Yeah, but I know how to let someone finish." Lou's eyes widened. "What?" He asked.<p>

"How…? Were you listening to that?"  
>"What, you and Elena? No, I didn't hear a word. Except for Elena… But all she said was 'Bastard'." Reno finished.<br>"So how did you know she didn't let me finish?" Lou asked, after a long, awkward silence.  
>"She never does! It's one of her many annoying traits, I guess." He asked, laughing.<p>

"Well, I'm still not telling you." Lou said, crossing her arms and slouching. Then she realised she was still in her dressing gown.  
>"Um, I need to get dressed."<br>"Why? You're not goin' nowhere." Reno said, plastering his usual smirk onto his face. Lou pulled a clearly disapproving face then walked into her room. Reno followed.

"Reno!"  
>"What?"<br>"Get out!"  
>"Why?"<p>

"You're never going to be in my room, got it? Now fuck off out! Oh, you can leave my _flat_ too. Go on. Get out, go bar-hopping or something." Lou shouted. Reno looked shocked somehow, and leaned against the doorframe in protest.

"No." He said simply, then began to fiddle with his EMR.  
>Lou let out an irritated breath, then replied with:<br>"Fine. You can stay. Oh, Reno…?"  
>"Yeah?"<br>"What do you _think _I was upset about earlier?" Lou asked, and he thought about it for a while.

"I don't know, woman shit or something' right?" He replied.  
>"Yeah, 'Woman shit'… Is that a technical term, or-" She started, but was stopped before the end.<br>"Oh, shut it." Reno said, canning Lou completely save a few giggles. He knew he was beaten and so did she. No need to rub it in.

* * *

><p>Later, when Lou had successfully struggled into her pyjamas with an arrogant Turk stood (oblivious to her need of privacy) in the doorway, she was sat with said Turk on her sofa, watching cheesy fails of horror movies.<p>

They'd just got to the part of classic film 'What lurks beyond your cat-flap' where the demon comes from the garden and through the keyhole, then possesses the cat. The cat runs rampage around the house and trashes everything. Then it eats the baby.

Reno was sat there, just patiently waiting for something _interesting_ to happen, when Lou picked up the remote from his lap. He jumped like hell, gaining a laugh from Lou. After she'd stopped her display of amusement, she started to flick through the channels.

"Oh, oh! Put that on! Put it on! Lou! That one!" Reno shouted out, pointing at the screen and trying to snatch the remote. Lou managed to get him away from her, just enough to see what he was going on about.

"Reno, we're not watching Dangermouse." She sighed.

"B-But… Dangermouse is amazing! Put it on! Please! I know! If you don't watch Dangermouse you have to tell me your secret." Reno blackmailed, smirking as always. Lou reluctantly flicked it over to Dangermouse.

About an hour later of annoying dialogue and ridiculously bad animation, Lou fell asleep. Reno saw this and launched himself from the couch, turning off the TV and picking up Lou to take her to her bed. Afterwards, he went into her bathroom and took off all of his clothes save his boxers. He made his way to her mangled old couch and snatched the blanket off the end, trying to fit his lanky self onto it while laying lengthways. There was a muffled chuckle from Lou's room.

Reno sat bolt upright and stared. Lou laughed again, louder this time.  
>"Go back to bed." He commanded.<br>"You want me to get out the airbed?" Lou offered, pointing to a large cupboard to her right.  
>"No, I'm alright. Go back to bed. Why are you still awake anyway?"<br>"I'm a really light sleeper. It felt cold in my bed, so I woke up." Lou explained.

"Follow me, Reno."  
>"What? No! I'm fine here, yo." Reno said, then sank back into the lumpy cushions of the sofa.<p>

He felt himself being tipped, then fell on the floor. Lou was dragging him by his feet.  
>"Ow! Get off me, crazy bitch!" He shouted, trying to detach her from the end of his legs. Then, she lifted him up onto her bed by his waist. Upon being released, Reno made a move to go back to the couch. Lou pushed him back down.<p>

"Is this rape or what?" Reno said, partially to himself but loud enough for Lou to hear it.  
>"No, because even if I <em>did <em>want to… thingy, it would only be rape if you didn't want it to happen."  
>"Meh. I guess you're right there, yo." Reno accepted his defeat and sank into the mattress, asleep before he knew it.<p> 


	10. Daddy!

-** A Final Fantasy VII Reno Fanfiction - by Nightcrawler666 -**

**Lou's finally warming up to our favourite redhead! YAY ;3 Well, sort of anyway...**

_**Chapter 10 - Daddy!**_

Lou woke up to the troublesome racket of her alarm clock and rolled over to smack it.

"Ow! What was that for?" Reno screamed, disturbed after Lou's fist collided brutally with his skull. He flipped over wide-eyed and pushed her back by her forehead, making her fall off the edge of the mattress. Almost immediately, Lou sprang back up onto the bed and hit Reno again.

He shoved her away again and buried his face in the pillow, muttering many muffled curses. Lou let out an aggravated groan and dragged the duvet off of Reno's half-conscious form and dropped it silently on the floor next to her. For a moment she felt guilty. But then…

"Ha! Nice pants, Reno!" She laughed, then fell on the floor in a fit of giggles.

"Hey! There ain't nothin' wrong with my pants!" He protested, failing to recognise his humiliation. He shuffled to the end of the bed and stole back the duvet, going back to the pillow to feign sleep again.

"What Turk wears _Spiderman_ underwear?"  
>"This one." He bit back.<br>"God, Reno! Grow up."  
>"I don't wanna grow up, yo! I'm just happy being as I am."<p>

Lou turned round to her wardrobe and opened the doors, taking out some jeans and a yellow t-shirt. Reno started to laugh.

"What?"  
>"Hehe, nothin' much, why?" He smirked.<br>"What?"  
>"You're wearing Spongebob pyjamas… <em>God, Lou! Grow up<em>." He said, deliberately quoting her to annoy her. Instead, she started to laugh again.

"Do you need the bathroom, I'm going through to get changed."  
>"Nah, you stay here. I'll use the bathroom." Reno said, then launched himself from the bed and grabbed his clothes off the sofa leaving Lou no choice but to agree.<p>

When he came back in, Reno was dressed in his usual uniform minus the jacket. Lou was waiting on the sofa, her t-shirt turned out to be a 'Muse' concert shirt. Reno dropped down onto the sofa next to her and she felt the springs give way despite the fact that he didn't weigh that much. Well, he didn't _look _heavy.

"Reno, how much do you weigh?" Lou asked. The man to her left laughed.  
>"Already seeing if you can take me on top of you, yo?" He teased. Lou huffed in exasperation.<br>"No! It's just, you're really skinny but… I guess you're also pretty fit right?" She asked.

"Thanks."  
>"What?"<br>"You called me fit. Thanks, yo." He kept teasing. He was really getting on her bad side now.

"No, just forget it. How much do you weigh?"  
>"Dunno. Got a set of scales?"<br>"Err, yes actually. They're in my bathroom." Lou pointed to the door, and expecting Reno to have moved instantly she let herself fall face-first onto her sofa. Correction -Into Reno's crotch - not the sofa. The redhead laughed and said:

"Just couldn't wait, could you?" before helping her up and leaving to go to her set of weighing scales.

* * *

><p>"176 pounds, yo!" He called through the open doorway. "You need to turn off the radiators by the way. It's too hot in her, yo." He finished while walking back to the living room and ripping off his shirt.<br>"Shit." He muttered.

"What? Reno are you alright?" Lou said, panicking considering the last time he'd said that he'd put his fist through his bathroom wall.  
>"God! I only popped all the buttons off my shirt, yo. No big deal woman, calm down!" Lou ignored him. Holy Jenova he could be moody sometimes…<p>

There was a loud knock at the door, followed by someone shouting for Lou.

"I'll get it!" Reno volunteered, running to the door in nothing but his trousers. When he opened it there was a very tall man with well-kept golden hair and brown eyes. He wore a blue and white pinstripe suit and stood with his nose in the air. Reno beamed a huge cheesy grin at him. The Turk could've sworn he heard him snort at him.

"And who might you be, young sir?" The man asked, looking Reno up and down as the younger of the two pushed his goggles further up his forehead.  
>"Reno, yo! Who the hell are you?" He asked, holding up his hand for a high-5. Again with the snort.<br>"Reno who is it?" Lou shouted in the background, before walking over and peeping over Reno's shoulder.

"Daddy!" She screamed, and flung herself at him. Reno was confused. He'd never really thought Lou had a family. He didn't, he was just some orphan from the slums. Looking at Lou's dad she was from a pretty stuck-up family.

"That's your Dad?" Reno asked, unbelieving.  
>"Yup. Oh, Reno put a shirt on." She said, embarrassed that a shirtless stranger had opened the door to her father.<br>"Yes _darling_." Reno joked.

"He's your _boyfriend_?" Lou's dad asked her, traces of disgrace and disgust across his face. Lou shook her head and said to him:  
>"I need to go to work now Dad. I'll call next time I can see you, Ok?" She said, then hastily retreated to her flat.<p>

Her father moved forward and was about to ask who the man in there with her was before the door slammed in his face. He walked away, concerned for his daughter even though he didn't really know who this man was. How did they meet? How long had they been living together? Maybe it was like she said and he _wasn't _her boyfriend. Even then, he might have been her fiancé! Or married already! He was particularly worried now.

Lou slammed the door, relieved that it had been Reno who opened it now. Sure enough he'd have plenty of questions about Reno and why he was wandering (shirtless) around her house. She felt guilty that she'd lied to him about it being a work day, but it was for the best. He'd worry even if she'd told him Reno was her adopted son or something ridiculous like that. He could never believe anything she said.

"What was that all about?" Reno asked from the kitchen. He still wasn't wearing a shirt.  
>"Oh, just my Dad. He can be so annoying sometimes.<br>"I didn't know you came from royalty, yo!" He joked, mostly on how posh her dad was.

"I hate my family, can we not get into that? Can't we talk about your instead?" Lou suggested, not knowing enough to have stopped herself.

Reno suddenly turned and stared hard into her fridge, muttering things about how stupid it was to talk about family. Lou carried on with it, not so much oblivious as curious. There was no question she was oblivious of how protective Reno could be.

"Come on Reno, tell me about _your _family!" She said, bouncing over and putting her hands on his shoulders. He span around and shut the fridge door with a deafening slam, angrily throwing Lou's hands away and slapping her across the face.

"Shut the fuck up! Just… Leave me alone for the day, alright!" He shouted, storming out and into Lou's bedroom to curl up in the sheets.

* * *

><p>An hour later and a bruise had started to form on Lou's face. She'd stayed on the settee since then and cried, but not because Reno had caused her any amount of pain but because of the pain she'd caused him. She'd never seen anyone turn so violent so quickly, and she felt responsible for him. His phone had rang several times, and it was probably Tseng or Rude (because only the work phones have that annoying ringtone) but it had always been silenced with a bang and some swearing.<p>

If she didn't feel so scared of it she'd go in. Truth is she did. She was petrified. He still had his EMR in there, and probably his spare firearm. She wished she couldn't visualise him doing that, but in her time at the Turks the amount of times she'd seen him shoot people were too numerous to count.

* * *

><p>Eventually, two hours later, Lou crept slowly over to her door just to see what he was doing. She half expected to see him cutting himself or something. You can't imagine how relieved she was when she didn't.<p>

He was still making muffled screaming noises, but he was taking in deeper, slower breaths. She walked over, cautious of where she put her feet because somewhere there was a creaky floorboard, and slowly lifted the duvet. He was asleep. Reno looked so peaceful all of a sudden, but his breathing pattern wasn't right.

Lou shook him awake, and he resumed his fury and snapped at her.

"Reno are you… I'm so sorry Reno!" She said, crying herself and moving to hold him in a tight hug. The embrace wasn't quite as tight as she hoped it to be, and she ended up having to strengthen it when Reno tried to push her away. She heard a click and almost fell off the bed, seeing Reno with a pistol aimed her way.

"Get out." He said, his voice unnaturally sadistic.  
>"R-Reno, I-"<br>"Out." He repeated.

Lou blinked back tears of betrayal and jumped on him, ripping the gun from his hands and punching him with all of her might. He grabbed her hair and dragged her towards him, then moved himself and pushed her throat down on the mattress.

"Reno! Get off me you bastard you-" She screamed, and someone opened the apartment door and came rushing in. It was Lou's next-door neighbour - Kyle. Reno turned towards the noise and realised there was someone there, but continued to push Lou away from him. He noted to himself how bad it probably looked, and how he was being ridiculously hurtful towards her. In no time the stranger was punching Reno to no end.

Lou was quickly released from the strangling grip and she struggled for breath, then saw her friend Kyle had thrown Reno to the floor and was using heavy hiking boots to kick his stomach in.

"Kyle don't! He didn't do anything!" Lou yelled. Kyle stopped kicking and both men looked at her, Kyle with confusion and Reno with shock. Then, Kyle dragged Reno off his feet and pressed him against the wall, putting heavy hits in on his jaw and then kneeing him in the chest. Lou had ran over and was quickly pushing Kyle out of her door, then ran back to Reno and threw him on the bed. He was coughing up blood. Lots of it.

"Lou. I-" Reno said, then gagged on his own breath. Lou forced him to lay flat on his back, with his head and neck supported at a 45 degree angle by pillows. Bruises were already forming over the ones he had received not days ago, but this was nowhere near as bad. She used a damp cloth to clean around his mouth and gave him a glass of water, then left him alone for a few minutes before he shouted her back.

"Reno, what do you need? Anything, this is all my fault. Are you fine now?" She asked, taking the empty glass and refilling it. She began to rub Vaseline on his chest, and old trick her mother had taught her to steady someone's breathing. Her brother had asthma.

Reno cleared his throat and grabbed the new water from the nightstand. He practically threw it down his neck, making Lou laugh a little.

"What?" He asked.  
>"You just practically breathed that in !" She replied.<p>

She was shocked when Reno dragged her forwards from where she was stood beside the bed, and pressed his broken lips to her own. She leant further in, for reasons she didn't quite understand, and put her hands either side of his head. His tongue pressed against her teeth begging to be allowed entry and even though she promised herself not to grant him any she ended up letting him in anyway. It was pretty one-sided really, considering Lou never actually asked for it, but she enjoyed it anyway, right to the point where Tseng and Kyle were stood in her doorway.


	11. Ready, aim, FIRE

**- A Final Fantasy VII Reno Fanfiction - by Nightcrawler666 -**

**! Hi! This took a while even though it's ridiculously short… I 'lost' my laptop charger and then it didn't work. :0 but oh well. Tseng = angry**

**Shoutouts to:**

**FireWolfHeart, Red6, Shin Kayima, Silver-x-Crimson and Lobandgeek for… doing things to my story ;)**

**Chapter 11 - Ready, aim, FIRE!**

"Reno, you know better than to exploit Louisa in such a way! Get to your own apartment right now, and don't bother expecting to see her for another month! Now!" Tseng shouted, ridiculously out of his persona. Kyle stood there smirking, watching Reno leave until he himself was sent home too.

Lou sat perfectly still on the end of her bed, staring at the space that Kyle had pinned Reno against.

"Are you alright? I'm so sorry, he wouldn't usually do that to a woman of your age." Tseng said.

"Do what?"

"Well, Kyle said he was raping you… Is that not true?"

"No! I got him started on his family and he pinned me down on the bed! He was just strangling me!"

"You say that like it's a good thing." Tseng pointed out, leaving Lou speechless as he walked out of her flat.

Reno felt a little disappointed. Betrayed? No, just let down. He was determined, too. Determined to see Lou again in the next month. Why had he been isolated from her? He was only kissing her! He did that all the time! Well, maybe not to other Turks, but still… Reno was just sulking.

Tseng, he felt slightly more concerned. He'd seen the look on Kyle's face when Reno left. It was pure victory. He considered that as his sign that Lou was his. So, he'd tell Elena to keep guard. Keep _everyone away, especially Reno and Kyle. And then he'd tell Rude to do the same for Reno. _

_Rufus certainly wasn't pleased to hear it either. Of course Tseng told him an account of Lou, Reno and Kyle, so that he had different viewpoints. On the outside, the brief explanation of the incident left only a slight frown on Rufus' face. Inside, he was sent into a deep trance of unanswerable questions and unsaid details. Who the hell was Kyle?_

_Rude didn't like his new job any more than Reno. He was made to sit on a heavy box in front of his door and sleep there, ready to wake up if he heard anything at all. Most of the time he opened his eyes just to see Reno had rolled off his bed. Once he even woke up because he breathed louder than usual. It was really unnerving, and it put Rude under unneeded tension._

_Elena was having fun. Her and Lou kept pulling all-nighters, watching cheesy rom-com's and laughing at all the parts you shouldn't laugh at. They often just slept on the sofa together. Lou felt more accepted than she ever had with the Turks, and all that was missing was Reno…_

_No. She snapped back into reality to see Elena fast asleep to her right. Although Lou was nearest the door, she had to make sure Elena wouldn't hear her. She stepped up and removed her slippers, then imagined her route before hastily tip-toeing away and out of her door. With a soft 'click' she locked Elena in and ran down the corridor in her bare feet._

_Her baggy jogging trousers caught the heavy wind as it hurtled towards her, and her hair whipped back and slapped her cheeks. The lack of sleeves on her vest top was proving a problem, and every step she made seemed to be harder than the last. It didn't occur to her how she'd get into Reno's, or what the consequences would be. For once, her mind wasn't trained on the future._

_The car turned the corner with ridiculous drift, men with guns hanging out of the top and waving their arms wildly. Lou turned to look at the wrong moment. The car headlights stunned her vision and she saw nothing but white. Heard nothing but shooting. Smelt nothing but rubber. Tasted nothing but fear. Felt nothing but pain._

_And that was it. After that, she saw nothing. Smelt nothing, tasted nothing and felt nothing. But she heard laughter. Her entire body had crumpled and fallen, and was numb and cold on the pavement. Her ears popped. Sirens could be heard even as distant as they were._

_Elena blamed herself. Rufus blamed the police and as did Tseng. Rude blamed the Lifestream, but Reno blamed no-one. He couldn't take it upon himself to say what he thought: that Lou was stupid to have gone out at that time, and that Tseng shouldn't of isolated them both. He didn't blame either of them though. As mentioned, he couldn't take it upon himself to say what he thought._

_Of course Elena hadn't even been to the hospital to see her. Tseng and Rufus were busy talking to the police. Rude was totally unfazed by it all, not seeing the purpose in mourning someone who wasn't even dead. Reno went. As if by magic, Kyle appeared too._


	12. Taking punches

**- A Final Fantasy VII Reno Fanfiction - by Nightcrawler666 -  
><strong>**  
>Please R&amp;R, not getting many reviews lately! Gonna TRY to end this at 15 chapters even though there's not actually much of a plot. Hoping it'll all unfold in the next three chapters. If you have any problems with chapter length e.g too shorttoo long PM me (or put it in a review) and I'll fix it up for you. Obviously if more people say to lengthen them I'll lengthen them. If no-one says anything I won't do anything. As if I needed to point that out LOL!**

**Chapter 12 - Taking punches**

"Hey, Lou!" Reno whispered, poking his head round the side of her door. The room was that same scary white colour, like everything was clean. Lou grumbled and rolled over until her back was to the door.

"Fine, if you're gonna be like that then I might just leave, yo." Reno laughed, still hushing his voice. Lou immediately flipped over and stared in disbelief at the man in her doorway. Her jaw dropped.

Reno walked over and threw Lou onto her back, then planted a kiss on her cheek.  
>"So, you alright now? They used a level 2 cure on your leg, yo." He asked. It was strange to see his usually cocky smirk replaced with such a worried look. Lou nodded and noticed a shape in the doorway. Her frown made Reno turn too.<p>

It was Kyle.

"And why the fuck are you here?" Reno shouted, raising his voice.  
>"What? So I'm not allowed to see her now?" Kyle said, keeping a blank expression and making his voice remain calm. 'Just to piss him off' , he thought. It worked. Reno planted a fist in Kyle's stomach, winding him, and pointed at the door.<p>

"Get out."  
>"Reno don't!" Lou pleaded, grabbing the corner of his blazer and pulling hard. The angry Turk whipped round and was about to argue when he caught himself, then slapped her hand away. He shook his head in disbelief and put his hand on his temple.<p>

"I need to go then, yo."  
>"Why Reno? Please don't leave…"<br>"I swear - I'd kill him given the chance, yo."  
>"Please! Reno!" Lou leaped out of bed and was about to run after him when Kyle pushed her violently back onto the mattress.<p>

"You don't need _him_ anymore, Lou. _He's_ worthless." Lou couldn't stand him saying that, and slapped him as hard as she could. She showed him the door herself, ignoring the pain still in her leg.

* * *

><p>Reno was late to work, but at least he'd seen Lou for a few minutes. The elevators were down. He walked the corridors totally unaware of the happy greetings from passers by, then slammed the door to the Turks' office behind him. Everybody stared at him and he stamped over to his desk to do his paperwork and fill out the many forms. Tseng gave him a look that said 'If that falls off it's hinges, you're paying Reno' and returned to his paperwork, and Elena whispered things to Rude which he accepted with a simple nod.<p>

A while through the stack Reno glanced over to Lou's desk. It made him angry to see it empty. It was ridiculously neat compared to his, everything it it's own little designated area. She had a tiny filing cabinet that was covered in sticky notes but somehow still looked neat, and a pair of keys hung from the lock on the top drawer. It was lockable?

"Reno." Tseng's voice broke his dream. "Lunch. You coming?"  
>"Yeah sure Just… Gimme a minute, yo." Reno sighed. He hadn't eaten anything since Lou had been shot the night before. He put his EMR in his jacket and threw his pen into the pile of paper and walked out.<p>

As soon as he was in the corridor he put a hole in the wall with his fist where he knew the CCTV wouldn't catch him. He kept walking with the pain, and stood next to Rude in the queue for lunch. Elena whispered something else to him and they both stared at Reno for a while.

"What? Got a problem, yo?" He shouted in their faces. Rude turned and shrugged, while Elena's eyes filled with tears she tried desperately to keep in. Reno rolled his eyes and stormed out again, punching yet another hole in the wall and doing even more of his paperwork. He wasn't hungry anyway.

After he'd signed out Reno decided to go and see Lou again. He'd force himself to stay even if Kyle was there. Anything just to see her. Reno didn't know why Kyle showed up anyway. How did he know about her accident? It's not like she told anyone. Naturally, the Turks were the first ones told about their comrade's casualty, but how had he found out? It made Reno uneasy. He got there and she was asleep, but he sat on the chair next to her and held her hand, even when he was also in dreamland. _Kind of._

Lou woke up and her head turned on the pillow to see a torch of red hair next to her. Reno was sat on the chair by her bed holding her hand, and she prodded him to see just how asleep he was. Not very. His head jerked up and his whole body jolted forward. The chair's spine groaned under such stress and snapped off, making Reno fall back into the wall. Lou just giggled.

He looked angry at first but when he saw Lou his eyes softened and he moved some of her Golden hair out of her face.

"You should wear it down more often, yo. It looks nice." Lou blushed and pushed him away. She hid under the covers for a while and when she popped her head back up her hair was in that same neat bun. Just without the pink ribbon. Her SOLDIER blue eyes glowed in the dim light emitted by the floor lamp across the room. For once Reno actually thought about whether anyone else knew.

"Um, Lou. Does anyone else know about your, uh… Past occupations, yo?" He questioned, trying to make it as indirect as he could. Apparently Lou had been a SOLDIER sent out to capture Zack Fair, a good friend of hers. She was one of few survivors, but when she found out that Zack wasn't, she massacred around 200 SOLDIER's. Then she ran away and joined AVALANCHE, which was why she had the pink ribbon. She was the one who caused the old President ShinRa's death. It wasn't natural at all.

Lou considered the question hard. Of course there were her superiors - they knew - but unless someone had figured it out then nobody except Reno had been told directly by her.

"Only you, Lazard, Rufus and Tseng. I haven't told anyone else, but I think Zack should recognize me since he was my mentor when Genesis went crazy." She answered. Reno had never seen her so calm when talking about her past. He knew by now she was ridiculously sensitive.

"Cool. Thanks for telling me, yo. You didn't have to." He smiled and kissed her, although it lasted longer than it was mean to, and left to go home and finally eat something.


	13. Elena, no!

**- A Final Fantasy VII Reno Fanfiction - by Nightcrawler666 -**

**Watch! The plot's unfolded! :3 Lovin it like McDonalds… not KFC cos I think it's icky! D: Two out in one day! On a roll here! WOWZ I'm so easily impressed.**

**Chapter 13 - Elena!**

Kyle walked down the thin grey corridor, following the two men in Kevlar in front of him. They were huge. They stopped outside a door and motioned Kyle inside. Obeying their blunt actions, Kyle slicked his short brown hair back and stepped inside.

The man at the desk looked up at Kyle and sat back in his black leather chair, smiling subtly.

"I see you've finally returned, Kino." Kyle was surprised to hear his real name being used. He hadn't heard it in so long. He gave a shy nod and avoided looking straight into his bosses eyes.

"So how is the success rate of your little mission, Kino? Doing well to infiltrate ShinRa yet?" Kyle immediately tensed and the fat man laughed, though it was definitely fake.

"Status report, Kino. Now." He said, suddenly stern and menacing.

"It's harder than I thought. The kidnapping didn't work. If anything it brought her closer to the Turks. I thought that with other friends in their, such as the ninja and the ex-Turk, she would slowly turn against them and rejoin her friends. She didn't." Kino deadpanned. He gulped before continuing.

"She places great trust in the Turks. The drive-by didn't work, I was meant to catch her there and then but the ambulance came too soon. The gang I sent to kill the redhead - they failed me and took off with the money I gave them. When I tried to kill him myself, I also failed. I needed her to trust me and was therefore forced to stop. She has grown too close to the Turks, and I fear we may have to-"

"I was thinking the same thing. Kino, you're off the job. I'm sending in the big dogs now, to annihilate the Turks just like you said. I assure you that even in death you will always be respected as a… helpful, member. Boys?" The man interrupted Kino and watched his face slowly crumple in defeat and fear. The two men who had taken him there ripped him from his seat and dragged him kicking and screaming through the hallways, the threw him shouting into the cremator. The cries soon faded.

The two men walked back to their bosses office and took their weapons in hand.  
>"The Turks. All of them. Only report back once you've given them a worthy funeral by the roadside near Fort Condor. Understand?"<br>"Yes sir." They said, then bowed and walked out again.

* * *

><p>Reno drove Lou to work for the first time in 3 weeks and helped her out of the car and into the elevator.<p>

"How're you feelin' yo?" He asked, ruffling her hair and noticing with surprise that it wasn't in a bun.  
>"Good. Never do that again." She joked. Reno snorted a laugh and walked out at the sound of the Turks' floor. Elena ran to Lou and hugged her. The young girl even received a wave from Rude.<p>

Reno walked to his desk and tidied away all of his completed papers, getting new ones out and starting them instead. Lou sat at her desk and pulled an assignment out of nowhere, starting work as soon as she found her pen in her pocket. Reno stared in awe at her organization and then began his own work.

Elena found her stomach grumbling and looked at her clock. 1 more minute. She started packing away and Rude caught on. Soon it had worked it's way round to everyone but Reno, who was still sat there with a cluttered desk when the clock rang twelve.

Lou was about to leave after everyone else, but something made her turn around and wait for Reno. He was _still_ working. How long does it take? He'd been chewing his pen lid on the same paper all morning.

"Oh come on already Reno!" Lou sighed, then walked over and packed up all of his stuff. The redheaded Turk sat there totally gormless then caught on, racing Lou out of the door. He won and loitered by the elevator, so when she turned the corner she ran right into him.

"Ow!"

"Yeah, well… Look where you're going next time, yo!" Reno laughed. She looked up with a murderous glare and a ridiculous pout, and Reno's sides were aching with his sudden fit of giggles. Not caring enough to alter her expression she marched around Reno and into the elevator. The older Turk followed, but the doors closed on him and he shrieked only after they'd opened again. Now it was Lou's turn to laugh.

They got down to lunch and swiftly devoured everything on their plates, finishing their food before everyone else despite arriving late. Reno left with Rude when they were both finished and Tseng decided to get back to his work early.

"So… What's the thing with you and Reno?" Elena asked, feeling it was slightly awkward for some reason.  
>"Nothing."<br>"Cause, he's been really nice to you lately and all. Just wondering. Kissed him yet?"  
>"What? No! What do you mean <em>yet?" <em>Lou asked, turning redder than said Turk's hair.  
>"Don't lie Lou. We all know you have." Elena said, half sighing half giggling.<p>

Lou walked out then. 'Why ask if you already knew?' she thought. She didn't want to upset Elena though. Rude rounded the corner in front of Lou and stared at… something… from behind his glasses. She couldn't tell if it was her or something behind her, so she turned to look too. Two men stood in white suits like the Turks' but with large semi-automatic machine guns on thick leather straps over their broad shoulders. Lou paled.

"Hey Rude! Whatcha doin' yo? What are they- Shit!" Reno came around the corner and, realising the situation, dragged Lou and Rude back round. Rude pulled a pistol from his jacket and noticed that no-one was actually in the lunch hall. Lunch break was over. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lou clinging to Reno, still as pale as before. Reno stood quite happily with her in his arms, resting his chin on her head but still looking towards the reflection he could see in the glass of the two men advancing on them. Lou was shaking with newfound fright.

Rude lowered his gun and brought out his phone, speed-dialling Tseng then hanging up. Their leader would get the message. One of the men rounded the corner and soon found himself faced with an EMR at his throat, Rude's gun trained on his partner behind him.

"Don't move a muscle." Reno threatened. The man held his hands up and seemingly admitted defeat, although behind him his partner stirred nervously.

Reno felt himself growing light-headed and weak, and fell to his knees. He only just felt Lou trying to get him up, struggling with even the small weight of his numb body. Rude shot one man in the head but the other was already attacking Lou. Her head was kicked several times before she was forced to let go of Reno and fall bleeding to the floor. Still she huddled close to his body, whimpering.

Tseng shot him as soon as he saw him, but with the range of his shooting it only hit his arm. He cried out in pain and stumbled back from Lou, this time shooting at Rude. The tall Turk only just dodged for cover behind some lockers in time to avoid the spray of heavy machine gun fire. Tseng shot again, missing completely and almost hitting Reno instead. Why was he so unfocused under stress?

Elena shot and hit, in the stomach in fact, and the man fell to the floor. Tseng gave her a little praise and she accepted it with much gratitude, then walked over to the dead man.

"Elena, no!" Tseng yelled, running over and hitting the floor hard with numerous bullets in his back. His vision blurred madly.


	14. Born to Die

**- A Final Fantasy VII Reno Fanfiction - by Nightcrawler666 -**

_**Warningz! Character death here! **_**:'(**

**So sorry ****FireWolfHeart**** (thx for the review!) but no, Tseng isn't staying with us… Tell me what you think cos it's my first time… killing… someone important in a fanfic, mainly because this is my first fanfic O.o **

**Chapter 14 - Born to Die**

"No! This wasn't meant to happen! That should have been me!" Elena fussed again, crying all over her leader's dead body. She'd already sworn to him while on his dying breath to take care of herself better. She felt herself being pulled back by strong arms and was surprised to see her lover Rude pulling her into his chest. She gave up all attempts to run after Tseng when the ShinRa infantrymen came to carry his body away.

Rude held her there for a few minutes before he was confident she was alright, then ran to Reno. Thankfully, his attacker had merely cast Sleep on him, and with Lou's foundations he had fallen safely to the floor. Lou had her bloody head nestled in his side, her crying was muffled and her knuckles were white from the strong grip she had on his shirt. Rude sighed and silently tried to pry her away.

* * *

><p>"Elena, no!" Tseng yelled, running over and hitting the floor hard with numerous bullets in his back. His vision blurred madly. Elena rolled him onto his back and stood for a moment, taking time to stomp with complete malice on her enemy's face. She let out a satisfied grunt when she rightfully perceived him as being dead.<p>

Tseng's breaths were shallow and pointless, but Elena tried all she could. She spoke to him with as much of a smooth voice as she could through her tears. All the while Rude watched from the sidelines. His voice was unclear and choked when he finally spoke to her.

She felt his hand on hers and Tseng's head rolled sideways to meet her eyes. His grip was loose and his white hands were cold. It was like he'd already gone.

"It's alright Elena. I was born to die…"He said, then his eyes slowly fluttered shut and his chest heaved as his last breath left him.

"Tseng? Tseng! Tseng, I promise to you, I will always take care of myself from now. You weren't meant to- It should've been me! Oh, Goddess why wasn't it me? I'm so sorry Tseng!" She wept, resting her head on his motionless chest.

* * *

><p>Lou was taken away to the infirmary while Tseng was taken to the morgue. Rude drove Elena home and Rufus came around with some more infantrymen to take Reno to his ShinRa apartment. All in all, everyone had something that was annoying them, or affecting them in such a way that they couldn't lie down without fear for a loved one.<p>

Lou and Elena had both mentioned symptoms. Lou was sat up with the bloodstained bandages on her head and forearms, rocking back and forth chanting Reno's name in hope he would magically appear and take her away from her despair. Elena was sitting in silence with a plate of untouched Lasagne in front of her. Rude sat beside her and comforted her all he could, although deep down he felt the same pain she did.

It was raining at the funeral. Elena stood in her Turk suit and as did everyone else, including Reno. When he woke up and heard the terrible news he'd gone berserk, punching holes in windows and shooting with no end at targets in the practice range. He was silent about it though, only talking to Lou about anything he wanted to talk about.

Elena lay down the white lotus flower on Tseng's grave. A tear fell there with it even though the blonde Turk tried hard to stop it, and she quickly retracted back under the black umbrella with Rude. Reno and Lou stood in silence, mourning with only tears, and when the four remaining Turks retreated the crying found noise.

Lou and Reno sat alone on Lou's sofa, watching Dangermouse. Everything seemed to remind Reno of Tseng. Goddamnit, even Dangermouse! Lou hadn't stopped crying since the funeral, and neither of them had eaten since the incident when their leader was shot.

Reno wished he could have seen him one last time. The last time he saw him was in the office, working. He was always irritable when working. If Reno knew what was going to happen he would never have let Rude call him, never have let him come any closer to the man, never have let him bleed to death while he lay unconscious on the floor. He should have seen it coming.

Lou blamed herself - if she wasn't occupied by the urge to cry all over Reno then she could have saved him. She was also sure everyone blamed themselves. Suddenly she felt overwhelming sympathy for Elena. If Elena hadn't walked over, Tseng wouldn't have had to jump for her, and he wouldn't of died. But no-one was to blame except fate.

That's what Rude was telling himself. He'd stayed at Elena's. They'd also sat in solitude on the sofa, as Elena cried herself to sleep in Rude's arms. Rude didn't sleep and Rude didn't cry. He thought that it was meant to happen, that even someone as great as Tseng had to fall eventually. His days had ran out on Gaia, and it was time for him to join the Lifestream.

The next day at work was horrible. Reno was now in charge of the Turks, with Rude as his second-in-command. They all had to clean out Tseng's desk, and his ShinRa apartment. It only made Elena cry even more. Even Reno was crying then, trying hard to keep it silent as he sifted through the various papers in his leader's drawers. Rude went home early, not able to cope with the stress, and Lou ended up emptying the cafeteria's dessert trays at the end of lunch. Reno had suggested comfort food, but was reluctant to practice what he preached.

Instead he went to the target range again, shooting anything that moved. And after that the boxing gym, knocking four punch bags off the ceiling fixtures that suspended them. After he was thrown out of there he took to the fencing mat, something he hadn't done in years. He defeated eight opponents before also being exiled for breaking one of the foil. Then he went home, even though he would have gladly substituted all of that worthless exercise (on an empty stomach, don't forget) just to hold Lou.


	15. A New Way to Remember

**- A Final Fantasy VII Reno Fanfiction - by Nightcrawler666 -**

**So final chapter! This one takes place about 2 years later for some reason. Just felt like it. Thanks to all of my readers-I love you all! :**

**- Dippychick16  
>- Darkfire67<br>- KagomeUchiha101  
>- FireWolfHeart<br>- Red6  
>- Shin Kayima<br>- Silver-x-Crimson  
>- Lobandgeek7<strong>

**Chapter 15 - A New Way to Remember**

"Reno! Can you get that?" Lou shouted through, referring to the phone. Reno jumped up from his place on the sofa and rushed to the phone, knocking over several pictures and his bottle of beer.

"Yo." Reno said down the line.  
>"Reno? Is Lou there?" Tifa asked from the other end. "I need to tell her something."<br>"Yeah sure, I'll just go and get her, yo." Reno sighed, putting the phone on the table.  
>"Lou! Tifa!"<p>

Lou put Altus down in his crib and he giggled, blinking his huge turquoise eyes, then took hold of her finger. Lou took a while to get him off, then walked through to the phone. Reno was cleaning up the broken beer bottle on the floor. Thank Goddess it was empty.

"Hi Tifa!"  
>"Oh, hi. Um, listen… The thing is, I'm going to be a Mom."<br>"Tifa! Oh, I'm so happy for you! When did you find out?"

"Last week. It was killing me not telling anyone but Cloud, you know? So I figured you could keep a secret. I'm a month on, apparently. How's Altus?" Tifa explained, then decided to take the spotlight off herself.

"Shit!" Reno shouted. Lou rolled her eyes at her husband, who had somehow cut himself on shards of glass.  
>"He's fine. You should see how much he looks like his Dad though. He's even ginger now!" She laughed.<p>

"Not ginger, yo!" Reno yelled, pointing at his hair. Tifa seemed to hear this and laughed.  
>"Good to know, Lou. And thanks for hearing me out. Say, what are you doing later?" Tifa asked.<br>"Oh, I um… I'm going out. It's really urgent - Turk business." Reno frowned at her.

When Lou had said her goodbyes she hung up the phone on its white stand and walked back to Altus. Getting a new bottle out of the tray, she handed it to him where he was standing in his crib and he fell down, quite content to just sit there drinking.

"We should give him some alcohol, yo." Reno said, leaning in the doorway. Lou sighed and put her hands on her hips, then walked past him and back to the phone to ring Yuffie. Reno went back to cleaning up his mess, standing the numerous pictures back up, pausing at his wedding photo.

Lou stood, grinning wildly, in a beautiful white dress with long draped sleeves and lace over a shimmering satin skirt. Reno was actually smiling genuinely for once, in a tuxedo. Looking closely you could see Elena in her red bridesmaid dress, and Rude also in a tuxedo standing next to her. Marlene stood in her little purple dress with a basket of flowers in her hands. White carnations, as both Reno and Lou had requested. Denzel stood next to her. Goddess he looked adorable in a tuxedo!

"Still can't stop smiling can you?" Lou joked, taking the photo out of his hands and staring at it herself.

Reno shook his head and snatched it back, putting it down on the little wooden table by their black sofa.  
>"Best day of my life, yo. And I look damn good in a tuxedo." He boasted.<p>

"Too bad you wouldn't leave your gun behind. You can still see it in half of the photos, you know? I love my dress. Elena looks really good in hers, mind. Can't believe Rude took off his shades!" Lou said, quickly getting chuffed over the tiny little details of her day. Reno raised his eyebrows.

"You remembered all that?" He gasped, then started laughing. Lou looked down at her watch and went upstairs, coming back down in her Turk uniform. Reno caught on and did the same himself. When he came back Yuffie was sat on their couch feeding Altus.

"Hey Yuff. Um, we'll be back in like, an hour yo." He said before being brutally dragged out of the door and into his Jaguar.

* * *

><p>When they arrived it was sunny. Elena was crying already, stood with a white carnation in her hands. She placed it down and the Turks all stood there, reciting their life in the past year to their ex-leader's gravestone. Rude was silent, as usual, and Elena spoke with a hoarse voice. Reno however was smiling. He loved still going to see Tseng. That same night every year, they would all go and tell him about their life from where they left off before.<p>

It had been two years now. When Reno and Lou got home Yuffie had managed to get Altus asleep. Lou invited the ninja to stay and watch a movie, like they usually did. So they all sat down and watched Dangermouse. Like they usually did.

Reno woke up in the morning and went to work before Lou had even woken up. He put it through to Rufus that he wanted to get a new Turk in training, and his ask was happily accepted by the president. He was told that all four of the Turks were to go down to the academy in three days, and each would pick a student to train up as a Turk themselves. It was going to need a heck of a lot of work, but the idea of being able to train a Turk himself was a good omen for Reno. He just needed to choose one, then all of the others would do the same. It couldn't be _that _hard… could it?

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I know this is a bit of a weird ending, but should I do a sequel about the 4 new Turks? Of course they'd ALL be OC's, and the 4 of them would all resemble their mentors in a way - that's why they picked them. Just wonderin that's all. If u want 2 put that in a review or PM me then that's cool, but if I don't get anything I won't make one… Thanks for reading everyone! xXx **


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